Water control device for planting machines



Aug. 15, 1950 J. c. RENAULT 2,518,5

WATER CONTROL DEVICE FOR PMNTING MACHINES Filed Sept. 25. 1945 2Sheets-Sheet 1 l J: O INVENTOR JCSRepauZt BY 4114.22 M

ATTORNEYS 3 J. c. RENAULT WATER comm. DEVICE FOR PLANTING MACHINES 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 25.. 1945 INVENTOR J cizagnauzz ATTORN EYSPatented Aug. 15,1950

W ER w ite Jean C. I iin'aii Farmers ,Merc

15,518,570" smegma r ANrING assignor to 551;; e? Company, Salinas, calm,

" a, corporation of California Application charge conduit extending intothe hgllow iurrowi mi s hoe o t nt ng ma hin the a hi depo ti t e p a tnw hei j w;

d ct y to t cre f fl th Shoe an said pil ll discharging water"rear-wardly into the furr plantsintoplace furrow hef ore closing of h ar; the Wate h s tti ,ali ilii i e oi e han h e ihpi t e a s A t ervomaiqr'rne in miqe o o u e;

a i p e iinezm esive devi 191 Ye .6 which will'be exceedingly effectiveforthe purpose for whichit is designed;

Tl 1 ese objects are accomplished bv means pf such strucure andrelativearrangement of: partsas will fully appear by a peri'isal of the followineeifiqa iex ene zslelm i m In the drawings similar characters ofreference indicate correspondingparts inthe several views: Eigure 1 is aside elev a r1 of a. v1;)lanting machine mb'odvingthepre'sentifivention. Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentarfelevatio n of the watervane and 'th'='actuatifig mechanism therefore;

"Fi 3 anv e eva sm t n. S win the si ion 9 he valve a t a in lever inrelation tothe yalvestem.

= Figure a fragmentary cross sectionon line 4-4 ther. .c v c 1' igure 5is a plan view of the furrow opening oede c .Be r nW m re v ar 1m lerlrto mh ac er re eren e on. the d awin s. the nv nti n is here shown asembodied in connection with a planting machine of the type shown in U.S. Patent No. 2,372,739, dated April 3, 1945, which machine incudes amain frame I supported above and for movement along the ground by a pairof transversely spaced, relatively large-diameter ground engaging wheels2 which are canted laterally into downwardly converging relation; theseSeptember 25, 1945 serial No. 618,524 (c1. 111:7)?

wheel sincluding flat rims 3 of substantial width. Th rims a espas d p ra d s a ce sl ht e ter han t e Widt a t a end o a hollow erre Op n $1198wh chis i i b y Su lort gfre the am b a o nd rd ended; aid urr w en h eledqwnr Warqlly ee n Sid 1 a the hoer n t-v posed so hat its rear end isslightly ahead of the vertical center line of the, canted wheels z.

/ A rotarvplanting mechanism-isnincluded in the" machine betweenthewheels 2 anafmcor porates a plurality vof circumferentiallv spacedradial arr nsps, fittedat their outer ends with plant holding clamps" 9}there being automatic means to open the carriers at anelevated pointforthe reception of plant's'i lll" therein, and to again open saidclamps at' a: substantially" dead-center bottom'pos'itionto release theplants'into the furrow ll formed by the leadingshoe 4. The wheels 2servea sjurrowcclosing means and close them:

rowshortly after each plant is deposited therein. The present inventionis incorporated in the above planting machine and comprises thefollowing arrangement:

YAWatr'discharge conduit [2 extends into the hollow, rurrbwbpening shoe4 at the topand ad jaceijit "its front end, and thence curvesdownwardly"and rarwardly' and'fo-rnis' the rear botto portion of saidslice; the conduit thus beccmi'iig -a unitary part of' theshoe:

At its rear end the'condiiit [2' discharges rearwardly 'intoythe furrowll adjacent the bottom the'resrgandtherear endipdrtiori of said conduitsaid Wheel we; bracket! 5 which includes fa u shaped CIamp'ZBSt'raddIiiigth rii'n aii d adjustably secured thereto by set screws 2 I.The number of cams I8 is equal to the number of clamps 9, and said camsare disposed on the corresponding wheel 2 in the same spaced relation assaid clamps, but corresponding cams lead the clamps 9 some distance sothat the cams operate the and a control rod 23 turnably extends throughsaid sleeve. At its inner end the rod 23 is fitted with a generallyL-shaped finger 24 which engages the outer end of the depressible valveopening stem I5.

At its outer end beyond the sleeve 22 the rod 23 is fitted with a T-head25 adjustably secured to said rod by a set screw 26; the T-headincluding, at right angles to the rod 23,- a longitudinally adjustableshank 21. The sleeve 22 extends transversely of the machine above theshoe 4, and the shank 21 extends at a rearward and downward incline;there being a roller 28 mounted on said shank at its lower end.

The above described mechanism is disposed so that with rotation of thewheels 2, the cams I8 successively engage the roller 28, swinging theT-head 25 in a direction to rotate the rod 23, which moves the finger 24in valve opening direction. When this occurs water flows from the tank11 through conduit [6 into the conduit l2, and thence discharges intothe furrow H,

The positioning of the cams l8 on'the corresponding wheel 2 is such thatthe above valve opening operation occurs each time a clamp 9 releases aplant it] into the furrow ll. As the water discharges from the conduitI2 it washes or flushes the roots of the adjacent plantinto properposition in the furrow, and which occurs a moment in advance of closingof the furrow by the rims 3 of the presser wheels 2.

The amount of water which is deposited about the roots of each plant iscontrolled by the length of the cams I8, i. e. a relatively short camwould effect discharge of a small amount of water, while a relativelylong cam would holdthe valve open a substantially greater length oftime, causing discharge of a greater volume of water.

The above described device provides a practical and efiicient means ofestablishing initial moisture in the furrow about the plant roots.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that there hasbeen produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of theinvention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferredconstruction of the device, still in practice such deviations from suchdetail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit ofthe invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, the following is claimed as new anduseful and .upon which Letters Patent are desired: a

1. A water feeding device for a planting machine including a furrowopening shoe and a planting mechanism operative to successively depositplants in predetermined spaced relation in the furrow adjacent but tothe rear of the shoe; said device comprising a water tank on themachine, a, conduit leading from the tank to a point of discharge intothe furrow adjacent plants deposited therein, a normally closed valve inthe 4 conduit, and means arranged to open said valve in timed relationto the deposit of plants in the furrow; the shoe being hollow and openat its rear end, and a discharge end portion of the conduit beingdisposed lengthwise in the bottom of the shoe adjacent said rear endthereof, the conduit discharging rearwardly from said open end of theshoe, saidportion of the conduit being formed as a unitary bottom partof the shoe.

2. A water feeding device for a planting machine including a furrowopening shoe and a planting mechanism operative to successively depositplants in predetermined spaced relation in the furrow adjacent but tothe rear of the shoe; said device comprising a water tank on themachine, a conduit leading from the tank to a point of discharge intothe furrow adjacent plants deposited therein, a normally closed valve inthe conduit, and means arranged to open said valve in timed relation'tothe deposit of plants in the furrow; the shoe being hollow and open atits rear end, and a discharge end portion of the conduit being disposedlengthwise in the bottom of the shoe adjacent said rear end thereof,said portion of the conduit discharging rearwardly and being cut away ontop for some distance forwardly of its rear end.

3. A water feeding device for a planting machine which includes a furrowopening shoe, a rotary planting mechanism having a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced plant holders thereon adapted to successivelydeposit plants in spaced relation in the furrow to the rear of the shoe,and a furrow closing presser wheel running on the ground to one side ofthe planting mechanism; said device comprising a water tank on themachine, a conduit leading from the tank to a point of discharge intothe furrow adjacent plantsdeposited therein, a normally closed valve inthe conduit, means to open said valve including a member movably mountedadjacent the presser wheel, and a plurality of oams corresponding innumber to said plantholders, said cam'being mounted on the presser wheelin position to, successively engage and move said member and open thevalve in predetermined timed relation to the deposit of plants in thefurrow.

4. A Water feeding device as in claim 9 including means mounting thecams on the wheel in circumferentially adjustable relation.

Y JEAN C. RENAULT.

REFERENCES CITED w i The following references are offiecord in the fileof this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

